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Concerts/Performances

Stories ,fairy tales and songs from Tunisia
Saturday 28 September 2024, 09:00pm

TLamia perfRADITIONAL STORIES, FAIRY TALES AND SONGS FROM TUNISIA.
A tribute to the tunisian storyteller Abdel Aziz et Aroui (1898-1971)

The Tunisian singer and storyteller, Lamia Bedioui, accompanied by musician Giorgos Vournas, present to you an evening of storytelling and performance of traditional Tunisian songs. The programme is called “Traditional Stories, Fairy Tales and Songs from Tunisia.”

Storytelling has played an important role in shaping Tunisian tradition and has been an integral part of people’s lives there, as well as the rest of the Arab world. These stories feature people from various social structures, including animals and imaginary creatures, such as dragons, fairies, or wicked genies.(dijnn). These characters act in pursuit of either wealth and power or love and happiness. Usually, heroes prevail thanks to their intelligence, courage and determination, and sometimes because of their cunning. The stories reflect the memory and imagination of the people; to teach life lessons and extol universal values.

For centuries, storytellers frequented coffeehouses and squares. As early as the 13th century, coffeehouse owners called on them to liven up patrons’ evenings by attracting lovers of stories and fairy tales. The storyteller, sitting on a platform and holding a cane in his hand recounted his tales, while every night multitudes gathered there to be entertained, to dream, and to be taught. So listening to fairy tales was a daily entertainment that contained social lessons.

In the mid 20th century, this tradition began to decline with the advent of radio and television, which gradually replaced coffeehouse storytellers. At the same time, the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956, was accompanied by an attempt to modernize the country. In this context, traditional structures and practices were restricted, censored and often eliminated. A whole world consisting of soothsayers, card players, snake charmers, monkey trainers, sellers of healing herbs, and all manner of wanderers, found themselves barred from the squares, and with them the storytellers.

The only one who managed to continue transmitting the narrative tradition was the storyteller Abdel Aziz et Aroui (1898 – 1971), who in the early 60’s told stories on the National Radio station. With his narrative experience and his calm and pleasant voice, he kept the listeners spellbound every Sunday and they relived the memories of the old days and the lost paradise of their childhood. The fairy tales of this programme are dedicated to the memory of that great storyteller.

MUSICIANS
Lamia Bedioui: storytelling and singing.
Giorgos Vournas: lute .

 

Lamia Bèdioui is a Tunisian singer and story teller, living in Greece since 1992.
She studied Economics at the University of Tunis where she gained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. She studied music and singing at the Tunis Conservatory and
at the National Conservatory of Athens. She has also attended many body -movement, voice-training and theater workshops.

From 2002 until 2010, she participated at the Vocal Art’s Workshop under the Greek baritone Spyros Sakkas.

In 2012, she graduated from the story-telling School of Athens (Center for Myth and Fairy Tales studies).The subject of her degree was "The love stories of the Arab world".

Her professional career in singing started in 1995. Her repertoire embraces mainly traditional music and songs from the countries around the Mediterranean as well as contemporary vocal compositions. She has collaborated with many Greek and international singers, musicians and performers of the Ethnic and Jazz music scenes such as Savina Yiannatou, Jon Balke, Wouter Vandenabeele, El jazzeera, Estudiantina Orchestra, Nikos Kipourgos…

She has been collaborating with Savina Giannatou since 1997 until now with appearances and tours all over Greece and abroad.

She has participated in the creation of several music albums:
Songs of the Mediterranean, Terra Nostra, In Gedeonis Area, Krotala, Basse classe, Metamorf…
Her debut album “Fin’amor” in collaboration with the performer and percussionist Solis Barki was released in 2006.
In April of 2015, she released under her own label LBedioui Music Production , her second album “Athamra” with songs from countries around the Mediterranean.
In October of 2019 , she also re-released “Fin’amor”, with new recordings, mixing and mastering.

She frequently appears before the public in music scenes and venues in Athens and all over Greece as well as in international music festivals ( Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Tunisia, France, Turkey, Portugal, Luxembourg... ) .
She has also participated as a performer and singer in theater productions and modern dance performances amongst which are : Maria Panoutsou, Natasha Zouka, Marina Mergou, Alessandra Maioletti, Ermira Goro and more…